Angela, after travelling and living abroad, moved to San Francisco, due to a close friend’s strong recommendation, and met Zheng while he was living a humble graduate student life in Berkeley. We joke that there were several “first- time” meetings because we were both unsure of whether or not an impression had been made on different occasions; we had noticed, unbeknownst to the other.

We were so different, there was no denying it. Angela was born in Atlanta to Korean Immigrants, has a nice southern side with a fiery twist, and was spontaneous, free-spirited, and borderline reckless. Zheng, was born in China, moved to the US when he was 11 and grew up in Chicago, focused, systematic, and careful. It wasn’t until Zheng visited Angela in China, while she was studying abroad, that they knew it was real.

Once Angela came back to San Francisco, our first date was at the aquarium in San Francisco. (That’s why we decided to have our reception at the GA Aquarium.) An ideal place for both of us because for Zheng, it was a controlled environment and he knew what to expect, but for Angela the fish and other sea creatures represented the oceans where they freely swam and traveled. It was through times like these we discovered that though we had stark differences in the way we approached and perceived life, it is what made us great…… we were a compliment of each other. And at the root of the both of us, we worked because we upheld the same values, faith, and principles.

The result is us, A+Z. A fun-loving, goofy, happy-go-lucky couple that challenges each other to practice restraint in our own tendencies.. but never to forget to add a dash of hot sauce to everything! Zheng moved to Portland after he graduated and proposed to Angela in a festively lit garden there a few days after Thanksgiving with a group of our closest friends that had come up from San Francisco.

What we hoped to achieve during the wedding, above all, was that it was meaningful to the guests that attended and that they FELT the love by the incorporation of romantic and vintage elements but also bits of our goofy and sometimes childlike personalities. Our colors were gold, silver, champagne, ivory and muted pink. So it was cute & modern meets a little romantic vintage.

We had a koala and owl that represented us on the invitations, programs, and as our cake topper. Angela is the koala, because people have said her nose is shaped like a koala, and come to find out they actually sleep a ton, which used to be a hobby of hers. Zheng is the owl, it befits him, because he has big eyes for an Asian man, operates best at night, and is a very wise man. Angela also loves animal prints, so we asked everyone to incorporate some sort of animal print into their attire.